North Korean Marathon Open to Everyday Runners for First Time

April race raises questions about political effect of foreign visitors.

In a sign of expanding tourism in one of the world’s most sealed-off countries, the Pyongyang Marathon is allowing recreational runners to participate in the race for the first time this year, according to multiple tour companies specializing in travel to North Korea.

The Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, now in its 27th year, is part of a nationwide, multi-day sporting event celebrating the birth of Kim Il Sung, the nation’s founder and grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un. The marathon will be run on April 13, two days before Kim Il Sung's birthday.

Previously, the marathon, which is sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations, was been an elite-only event. A small number of runners from Kenya, China, Russia and other countries have competed alongside North Korean athletes to reported crowds of 100,000. Last year, North Korea’s Kim Mi Gyong took the women’s title for the second time in a personal best of 2:26:32 (30 seconds off the course record), and Ethiopian Ketema Nigusse won the men’s race in 2:13:04.

Absent from the field have been elite runners from the United States. John Dantzler-Wolfe, operations chief at New Jersey-based Uri Tours, which specializes in travel to North Korea, says U.S. professionals are being welcomed to the marathon for the first time this year, too, though it’s unclear if any have been notified of the change.

The ease in restrictions for the race stands in sharp contrast to North Korean threats of a nuclear strike against the U.S. and South Korea in the week leading up to the 2013 event. Tour companies in the U.S., China and Europe have been lobbying the North Korean government for years to open the marathon to amateurs, and Dantzler-Wolfe believes the government’s willingness to do so now is part of a larger push to expand the tourism market.

“They are paying more attention to the economy in general, and tourism is one of the few areas where they can have a constructive economic relationship with the rest of the world,” he says.

Dantzler-Wolfe estimates the number of U.S. citizens visiting North Korea has quadrupled since 2006, from 500 to almost 2,000. In 2013, he puts the number of foreign travelers from the Americas, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia at 6,000. The figure is much lower than the tens of thousands of Chinese tourists who visit yearly, he says, but it’s a notable upward trend.

While runners can participate in the marathon, the three-hour time limit will encourage most to choose the half marathon or 10K option. The shorter distances also have time limits, of two and a half hours and two hours, respectively.

The half marathon and 10K are not new additions. The distances have been held previously for “junior” runners, according to the country’s state news agency, though it’s unclear if those runners are youth athletes or non-elite competitors. Dantzler-Wolfe believes recreational running is non-existent in North Korea—leisure sports are typically badminton and soccer, he says—but 600 runners reportedly participated in the races last year, and many are expected to run this year as well.

All three distances start and finish in Kim Il Sung Stadium and hit major sites in the capital, including the Arch of Triumph, Kim Il Sung University and Rungra Bridge, one of multiple bridges over the Taedong River. Marathoners run the mostly flat loop four times, half marathoners twice and 10K competitors once.

Soccer games, taekwondo matches and other sporting events begin in the stadium shortly after the marathon starts, and runners can watch the events after their race.

Some Western runners have expressed reservations about participating in an event that honors the North Korean leadership. Others say that foreign travel can break down cultural barriers. Christoph Stephan, director of Pyongyang Travel, based in Germany, says two German runners have registered for the 10K; others have inquired but are weighing the decision.

Edward Walters, 48, a triathlete and U.S. and Australian citizen living in Jakarta, had no hesitation. “Where else can an amateur runner start and end a marathon in a national stadium filled with people?” he said in an email. “Who knows how much we’ll be able to see on the 10K race loop, but I reckon doing it on foot is a lot better than a tour bus.”

Two runners from South Africa and Denmark, also living in Indonesia, are joining Walters on the trip. He adds that they don’t have any political or social agenda. “We’re just runners,” he says.

Uri Tours has had interest from U.S. runners, but no American registrants yet. A China-based tour company, Koryo Group, say it has more than 40 people signed up for the trip, mostly from Western European countries, the United Kingdom and North America.

Foreign participation in sporting events in North Korea has been sporadic. The most recent, of course, was former NBA player Dennis Rodman’s coordination of a basketball game between retired U.S. players and North Korean athletes as part of a birthday celebration for the current leader. Rodman’s visits to North Korea have spurred discussion about whether foreign athletic participation helps to legitimatize the North Korean leadership or whether it helps to educate North Koreans about lifestyles in the rest of the world.

Last fall the New York Times reported that Pyongyang hosted an international weightlifting competition, which was won by a South Korean. The country has also hosted international taekwondo competitions, a pro wrestling match in 1995 (attended by Muhammad Ali) and, according to NBC Sports, South Korean youth played North Korea in a soccer match in 2008.

The 2014 Pyongyang Marathon won’t be the first road race in North Korea with amateur participation. In 2005, 144 South Koreans ran in an inter-Korean half marathon, which traveled from Pyongyang to the coastal city of Nampo, according to the South Korean news site OhmyNews.

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